Cossacks Are Remorseless Soldiers

1901

The Russian authorities have always been aware of the usefulness of their Cossack soldiery in quelling outbreaks even in European Russia. Forty years ago these wild soldiers of the steppes were sent to quell the insurrection in Poland. The horrible butchery which has ensued in Warsaw and other Polish towns forms one of the blackest pages in the history of Russia. Only 18 months ago the Cossacks were let loose in the streets of St. Petersburg to restore order among the disaffected students of the university. Riding straight into the bands of students the Cossacks lashed right and left with their long cruel reins loaded with lead, and the students were literally driven into submission. — Paris Messenger.

Pals of Four Wars Come Back to U. S.

1919

Wyoming Cattlemen Say They Are Ready at Country's Call Again.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Two seasoned American warriors from Wyoming, ranchmen and veterans of four wars who never got a scratch in a battle, altho they fought in many, arrived here from Havre on the French liner La Lorraine.

They had been friends for 22 years, and whenever there was a real war under way they turned their ranches over to foremen and took chances on the firing line.

The last fight that brought them together was the great war. Their unit was the 148th field artillery, made up of the Third Wyoming infantry.

These two soldier-rangers are Capt. W. E. Jackson of Wheatland and Capt. W. P. O. Grote of Jackson. Capt. Grote's ranch lies up in the northwestern part of the State, just below the Yellowstone, and that of Capt. Jackson stretches along the Platte River in the southeast corner of the State.

They saw service together in the Philippines, in the Boxer uprising and in the Boer war in South Africa.

Wireless bulletins of the strained relations between the United States and Mexico aroused their interest at sea, and they announced they would go over the border if Uncle Sam needed them.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 5.

Youthful Soldiers

1920

J. H. Monroe, famed after the Civil War as "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh," is dead. He enlisted in the Northern Army when 10 years of age and his death recalls the fact that the war between the States was largely fought by boys under 21.

Soldiers of 16 were common and "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" had his confederate counterpart in George S. Lamkin, who enlisted in Mississippi at 10 years of age, was seriously wounded at Shiloh and twice again at Chickamauga. He was living a few years ago at Nashville, Tenn.

Farragut held a midshipman's warrant at 10. Andrew Jackson joined a body of dragoons and fought in the Revolutionary War when he was 13. Oliver Hazard Perry became a midshipman at 14. John Paul Jones went to sea at 12, and Lord Nelson boarded a 64-gun man of war when he was 12. Buffalo Bill was an Indian fighter and buffalo hunter at 12.

The World War is not without its heroic figures of tender years, but with the exception of the German armies, the gaps of which were filled with mere boys toward the end, it was a struggle on the part of men who had reached maturity. As the world grows wiser, childhood is looked upon as a state which is best to prolong as long as possible and children make better men and women for being longer aloof from the realities and vicissitudes of life.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 6.

Old Men in Wars

1920

The World War has been called a young man's war because young men filled the ranks, but it was also an old man's war because old men were in command, hardly one of the distinguished military leaders having been under [45] while most of them were over 50. Foch, Joffre, Pershing, Haig and Hindenburg are all in the neighborhood of 60.

Among the government war leaders, Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Wilson and Orlando are all of mature or advanced age, Hoover alone among the great managers being as young as 45. The same was true of the Boer war, all of the distinguished Englishman in command at the front (with the exception of Kitchener), as well as in charge of the government at home, ranging in age from 60 to 70. On the Boer side Kruger was 70, the same age as Von Moltke when he won the Franco-Prussian war. The poet-warrior d'Annunzio is 56.

Going farther back, however, we find a different story, says the St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette. Grant was most successful at 40, Sheridan at 33, Stonewall Jackson at 37, "Jeb" Stuart at 28, Lee being the chief exception, with 54 years to his credit when he took command. Nelson was 39 at the victory of the Nile, Wellington 34 at Assaye and the Duke of Cumberland only 25 when he became commander-in-chief.

Napoleon was a renowned military figure while yet in the 20's, as were Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and other warriors of ancient times. Although the present is supposed to be preeminently the age of young men, the more recent wars have witnessed a majority of men of advanced age in supreme command both at home and in the field.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 6. Note: The "45" in brackets was supplied by me, since a number is missing in the original article. It's just a guess.

Newark Soldier is Convinced By Gypsy War Will Soon End

Ohio and Alabama, 1917

One of the Newark boys at Camp Sheridan, Ala., writes a friend of a queer coincidence that happened him a few days ago. In company with a comrade they engaged a livery auto in Montgomery to show them points of interest, taking two lady friends with them as companions.

They were out in the country several miles when something happened to the machine and the chauffeur told them it would require about an hour to repair the same. The soldier boys and lady friends started on a little hike and walked about a mile and a half when they came across a gypsy camp and all had their fortunes told, the writer of the letter being last.

The soldier asked her numerous questions and finally said, "When will the war end?" "In latter November or December," replied the fortune teller. "How do you know?" inquired the soldier. "Just as I know that the driver of your auto is lying under his machine back in the road, dead," replied the gypsy.

They hurried back to where they had left their car, the young women almost hysterical and the soldiers doubtful. There was the chauffeur under the car and life was extinct, as foretold by the gypsy. An examination proved that he died from apoplexy.

The young Newark soldier vouches for the truth of the story and is now convinced, although never a believer that some people are gifted with second sight.

—The Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, Nov. 10, 1917, p. 6.

New Methods of Fighting

1917

Modern Warfare Is Carried On Under Water, Under Ground and in the Clouds

"Digging in" has a new and important significance and the fantastic legend of Darius Green is long forgotten in the light of practical achievement by the bird-man of today. The cavalry of the earth has been supplanted by the cavalry of the air. The actual fighting of modern warfare is conducted under water, under ground and far up among the clouds.

Yes, there have been drastic changes in military tactics and military equipment since the old days when we used to drill in the armory over the grocery store in the little old home town. What we tried so hard to learn of military lore in those days would be classed as low comedy by a recruiting officer of this changeful period. But all the same, one can't help wishing that one were somewhere in France at this minute with good old Company C regiment of the National Guard, and we'd make a reasonable wager that of the survivors of that organization, if given an opportunity to go, there wouldn't be a slacker in the bunch. — Exchange.

Lazy, Dirty Panama

1905

Although there is a new flag in Panama, and the affairs of state are in new hands, life rolls on in its accustomed way. The bells in the old towers keep calling the faithful to prayer; long files of venders parade the narrow streets, eternally crying for sale their frugal wares; buzzards soar in the hot air or hop on foot in their never ending search for offal; the same horde of quarreling women crowd the market place to chatter, to barter, and to fight; polite men drink in the cafes and busy themselves with political plot and counterplot; and dusky senoritas lounge in cool patios, dreaming the dreams that southern maidens dream.

The south is always the south. Its idle, shiftless children play and parley their hours away, and the years bring little change for them. They are as aimless as the winds that play in the palms. It is no wonder. The word tropic sounds narcotic. It is of no use to resist. You may summon all your powers of will, but drowsiness touches you with its gentle fingers and you drift softly out on the sea of sleep.

Soldiers Eat Ice Cream

The sweet tooth seems to flourish in a hot climate. Children gnawing at pieces of sugar cane is always a familiar sight in tropical lands. Sometimes they get little else to eat. On a former trip to the tropics I had in my employ a little black by the name of Domingo, who ran errands for me. Necessarily I became quite familiar with the habits of my young assistant. I found that, aside from sleeping a great deal, he was quite an eater. His blouse was his larder, and he kept it well stocked with eatables, mostly sweets. If he were disturbed while eating he would chuck the unfinished morsel inside his shirt to await a more favorable opportunity to consume it.

Domingo's tendency toward economy was commendable, even if his idea of cleanliness was not praiseworthy. There was always a noticeable bulging in his blouse, and I frequently heard a rattling sound as he moved about. One day I said to him: "Domingo, what is that in your shirt which rattles so?" He replied: "That's my ice cream dish, sir."

It was a well battered tin cup, and, after some contortions, he brought forth a crooked, much abused metal spoon. "For two cents I get this half full of cream, sir. It is very good. May I bring you some?" I did not avail myself of his generosity.

Domingo is a soldier now. The salary he gets for being a fighting man amounts to about 40 cents per day, American money, and he boards himself. This is a satisfactory arrangement to Domingo, because feeding himself is an old habit. He does not have to put up with whatever rations the head of the commissary department may see fit to issue.

He still has his battered cup and crooked spoon, and he buys ice cream and cake as many times a day as the spirit moves him. His fellows do likewise. Around their camp there is a hovering swarm of venders.

Steamer on the Spot

The Panama railway steamer, City of Washington, which rendered such valuable service during the recent trouble, has been an actor in other stirring events. It was in Havana harbor when the Maine was blown up, and was anchored next to that ill-fated vessel.

The Washington's small boats were the first to begin picking up the men from the water, and its crew saved many of their lives. Over 100 women and children were kept on the Washington for two days and nights at Colon. They were given their meals and the best service the ship afforded, and no charges were made at all.

After the trouble was over this boat took the commissioners to New York, and later, took the treaty to Panama to be signed. When it was brought on board, Capt. Jones was given a printed letter of instructions, in which it was stated that his charge concerned $50,000,000 worth of interests.

The valuable document was incased in a steel box made especially for it, and this box was contained in a stronger and larger steel safe. Two smaller steel boxes contained two keys, which were sealed with the seal of the United States. There was considerable red tape to be gone through with in delivering the treaty to the proper authorities at Colon, because it was neither freight, baggage, mail nor express. It was one of those little jobs of Uncle Sam's that, as the saying goes, "had to be done just so."

An incident occurred during the "bloodless insurrection" which caused a stampede among the black population. There are thousands of negroes on the isthmus, who were brought here from Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies to work on the French canal. When that fantastic fizzle spent itself they were left to "root, hog, or die."

Most of them are English subjects, and while they are a miserable, poverty-stricken lot, their one pride is that they are subjects of Great Britain. It stands them well in hand, because it saves them from being pressed into service for military duty. It is to the credit of the English officials that they look after them in this respect, and prevent them from being imposed upon. If the pretenders to authority, or those who have so frequently to defend their position, were allowed to round them up and force them to carry arms, they would not last long.

The stampede referred to was caused by an accident. One of the volunteers, who was not used to handling firearms, while in the act of examining his weapon, allowed it to go off. The bullet went between his toes, and it was all so sudden that he thought the enemy surely had him. He let out a yell and started to run. Several hundred negroes who were lounging in the vicinity, curiously waiting for developments, heard the shot and yell and started a precipitate rush for safety. As they ran they spread the news and gathered recruits. The retreat of Britain's black brigade on that warm, warm morning was not a success from a standpoint of order, but deserves special mention as regards speed. Some of them are probably running yet.

The Shade in the Jungle

Panama has waited long to gain the center of the stage. It is as gray and worn as an old man. It has seen enough sorrow to make a thousand tragedies. Its green swamp is the lair of death, where fever, like a slinking thief, always lurks in hiding.

Yellow Jack is an invisible horror. It advances with noiseless steps and clutches its victims with fleshless hand. Ever as it passes there are dead men and women.

This shapeless, hiding thing, which strikes unseen, is the real defender of the bar that God laid down to mark the separation of the seas. If it is His supreme will that the waiting oceans blend their waters, He must make strong the arm that is preparing to strike the barrier away; He must guard the blow that will shatter the mountains by calling off the shade that stalks so ruthlessly through the jungle.

Cleared by a Thumb

1910

The guilt or innocence of an army veterinary surgeon, accused by a soldier of assault at Pontivy, France, rested on the question whether or not the accused man sucked his thumb after the soldier had accidentally inflicted a slight wound.

While M. Berland, the veterinary surgeon, was performing an operation on a horse's leg at the barracks of the Second cavalry regiment at Pontivy, a trooper who was holding down the horse inadvertently scratched M. Berland's hand, in consequence of the horse moving suddenly. The surgeon examined the scratch, and then administered a sound box on the ear to the soldier, who received the punishment in silence, but later complained to an officer.

The court-martial spent considerable time in ascertaining whether the choleric surgeon struck the trooper suddenly, without reflection, as a person might do after having a corn trodden on, or whether the blow was given deliberately, after Mr. Berland had time to reflect. On learning that M. Berland did not stop to suck the wounded thumb before boxing the trooper's ear, the court decided that the blow was not premeditated and he was acquitted.

Johnny Poe of the Black Watch

1915

Killed in the Fighting Near Ypres, Sept. 25, 1915

(Lines by a Princeton Classmate)

JOHNNY POE;
Stocky little chap, you know,
He'd no call to take in slack!
'Most too small for quarter back,
Made it somehow — played it, tho;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe
More than twenty years ago —
Wasn't he a ghastly sight
When we'd fought the snowball fight?
Hardly had a face to show,
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe;
Freshman president? That's so;
Homely face and ready grin —
Lord — the veil of years grows thin!
Dead "somewhere in Flanders?" No!
Johnny Poe?

Johnny Poe.
Well, that's how he'd like to go.
Scrapper he was, first and last,
Never let a fight get past,
Hunted 'em through Mexico;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe;
That's the Celtic strain, you know.
Soldier, miner, ranchman, he;
Trailed the land from sea to sea.
Couldn't let things get too slow;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe
Dead in battle, laid so low,
Bearing in your burial place
Tartan of your Celtic race,
Bless you, Johnny, rest you so;
Johnny Poe!

— E. Sutton.

— Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 2.

What German Soldiers Want for Christmas

1915

The Berliner Tageblatt has published the replies of the various German armies to its inquiry of what the soldier boys would like to have sent them for Christmas.

Following is a summary of what the soldiers ask for:

Army of the Crown Prince: Red wine, cigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco, canned milk, sewing materials, chocolate and cheese.

Army of Von Hindenburg: Honey cakes, herring, preserves, mitts, mufflers, ladies' muffs, sewing material, chocolates, mouth harmonicas, pocketknives.

Army of Mackensen: Sausage, lard or butter, dried fruits, chocolates, smoked fish, accordions or harmonicas. No woolen goods.

Army of Gallwitz: Cigars, cigarettes, chocolates, soap, sardines, fish, preserves, sewing materials, darning needles and wool, any kind of musical instrument, picture books and comic papers.

Army of Loewenfeld: Cigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco, chocolates, stockings, handkerchiefs, canned milk.

Army of Von Kooster: Stockings, mitts, mufflers, towels, handkerchiefs, soap, chocolates, pickled meats, wine, beer, electric pocket lamps, pocketknives, funny papers.

The list offers variety for all tastes and purses.

The Man Who Dared Disobey

1900

The great soldier is the man who, as a subordinate, on all ordinary occasions obeys orders implicitly, but who, when the great emergency arrives, knows that, to save the day and his country, he must disobey. He breaks his orders on his own responsibility, knowing that the result and the future will justify him. Failure would be his ruin. Success may immortalize him. And if he is great, he knows that he shall succeed.

One of the members of the Russian imperial cabinet, Monsieur Witte, minister of finance, is one of the most powerful and important men in the empire. Highly esteemed and trusted by the emperor, he is respected and honored by the representatives of foreign powers. Yet Monsieur Witte is of humble origin — a fact which, in Russia, where every circumstance favors the man of noble blood above the plebeian, has counted for much against him.

Monsieur Witte, in his early life, after an imperfect education, was made station-master at a small and unimportant railway station in southern Russia. The war between Russia and Turkey arose, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers had to be transported into Roumania and Bulgaria. One day Monsieur Witte, in his station, received telegraphic instructions to make certain arrangements in connection with the passage of these troops along the line.

In Russia orders from a high source, connected with the affairs of the government, are terrible things, not to be disobeyed. But this young man saw that obedience in the present instance would create great confusion, if not positive disaster. His superiors had told him to do the wrong thing. He ventured to violate his instructions, and to do the right thing.

The president of the railway summoned the young man before him, and asked why he had presumed to disobey his telegraphic orders in a matter of such vast consequence. Monsieur Witte told him why, and convinced him that he, the station-master, was right, and that the orders were wrong. Instead of removing or punishing him, the chief of the road advanced him.

Afterward this railway president, Monsieur Wichnegradski, was called to St. Petersburg to assume a place in the imperial cabinet. Remembering the man who had so successfully disobeyed, he sent for him and gave him a post under him. After that Monsieur Witte's advancement was rapid, and he rose to occupy the highest "business" position in the empire — that of minister of finance. — Youth's Companion.

An Incomplete Education

1899

Ignorance, even dense ignorance, is often to be met with in this country of public schools, but it is seldom that one finds a man in all his senses whose mind does not contain some suspicion of a world beyond his potato-patch or logging-camp.

Among the European peasantry, however, education is often absolutely unknown. Sad to say, a conversation which occurred between a French conscript recently taken from his farm and the adjutant of his regiment is not unique, although it may sound so.

"Come!" said the adjutant. "You are a Frenchman — a soldier; do you know why you are here instead of working in the fields? I ask you why you are here — a soldier? You give no answer. Have you never heard of the Germans?"

"No, my adjutant."

"You have never heard of the Germans? What is Germany?"

"I don't know."

"Are you a Frenchman or a German?"

"I don't know."

"This is wonderful! Where were you born?" "At Vaucouleurs, my adjutant."

"At Vaucouleurs, and not a patriot! Did no one ever tell you of the invasion?"

"No, my adjutant."

It would be hard for a Jacques of Vaucouleurs to grow up in the United States. — Youth's Companion.

The Greatest Fighter

1920

Jack Dempsey of pugilistic fame has been acclaimed by many as "the world's greatest fighter."

He is scheduled to meet Georges Carpentier, the Frenchman who vanquished England's premier prize fighter in less than one round, for the honor of wearing the world's championship belt, not to mention a cash consideration of several hundred thousand dollars.

A little more than a year ago 2,000,000 American youths were facing machine guns, artillery, hand grenades, bayonets and airplanes on the battlefields of France, and 2,000,000 more American boys were in the service on this side yearning for the opportunity to share the dangers of their comrades overseas.

To whom, asks the Atlanta Constitution, should go the recognition of being "the world's greatest fighter" — Jack Dempsey or some of those brave American — or French, or British, or other — boys who stood the test of the trenches?

There can be but one answer.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 6.

Get 10,000 Pounds of Fish

1920

Two Men Using Seine Make Record Catch, Mostly Carp

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Edward and Joseph Larbey, fishermen, caught 10,000 pounds of fish with a seine at Grafton, Illinois, thirteen miles above Alton on the Mississippi near the mouth of the Illinois River.

The fish, mostly carp, were driven out of the Illinois by the breaking up of the ice, it is believed, and took refuge behind a dyke, where the Larbeys placed their seine.

The haul is valued at $600, and is said to have been sold in the St. Louis market.


"Dead" Soldier Returns Home Finds Wife Remarried and Is Granted Divorce by Court

NEW YORK, N.Y. — John C. Ries, an American soldier, who had been officially listed as killed and who later turned from overseas to find his wife had married again, was granted a decree of divorce today in the Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Ries served with a machine gun company of the 27th Division. He was gassed, wounded and left for dead upon the battlefield, but later he was picked up and sent to a hospital.

History of the War

1915

"When the history of this war comes to be written," is a constantly recurring journalistic phrase, as if the story of this great conflict could ever be written.

You may be fairly certain that no one under the rank of an archangel, in close touch with omniscience, will ever write the full history of the world war. Down below there isn't the knowledge, and there isn't the time. There will come sectional accounts. But if in the fullness of time a world syndicate succeeds in getting some million tons of print within covers, the public will (one hopes) be thinking of something else. Yet the literature of the war as a personal drama is the domain of the private soldier, and the best letters from the front have been written by the private soldier.

On that side of the literature of war the editor of the Book Monthly has his eye. He is a specialist on the "Epistles of Atkins," and already he has been gloating and gleaning with some thousands of soldiers' letters before him. — London Chronicle.


Magnificent Volume

The most sumptuous copy of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in existence was recently sent from England to a purchaser abroad. The value of the book is between $5,000 and $7,500. It has been reproduced as an illuminated manuscript on vellum, and the volume is notable as being the entire work of one artist, Alberto Sangorski, who was engaged upon it for 18 months. The title is in pearls set in gold, and the cover is embellished with 214 rubies and 36 amethysts.

London Women Rolling Cigarettes for Soldiers

1915

They Abandon Knitting for a New Fad for Relief of Men

London. — Rolling cigarettes for relatives, sweethearts, and friends in the fighting line is just now the occupation of many women here, who believe tobacco in this form will be more appreciated than packages of cigarettes manufactured in the ordinary way.

It is not an uncommon sight to see women rolling cigarettes in the lobbies of some well-known hotels, and many have temporarily given up knitting to make cigarettes. Symmetry, of course, is not much in evidence in these productions, which often swell toward the center like cigars, but Tommy Atkins will probably be able to smoke them despite their shortcomings.


Piquet War in Trenches

Soldiers Have Regular Championship Matches Along the Battle Lines

Paris. — Piquet, says the Figaro, is the favorite diversion of the French troops in the trenches along the battle lines. Some remarkable games are played between the crack players of the different companies.

Many of the contests are broken off suddenly by the bursting of shrapnel in or near the trenches. Not infrequently a game ends in a "dead" hand when some unfortunate player "passes out" forever while holding the winning cards.

Lauds The Bantam Soldier

1915

British Medical Journal Says the Little Fellows Are Good for Trench Work

London. — That little men have many advantages in war time over their bigger brothers is an argument advanced in the British Medical Journal.

After expressing the view that 30,000 have been lost to the army in the last few weeks owing to the present high standard, the journal says:

"Not a little is to be said in favor of short infantry. Short men occupy less room in transport. They find cover more easily and offer a smaller mark to bullets and shrapnel. They are better sheltered in trenches and require to dig less deep trenches to protect themselves.

"It takes less khaki to clothe them and less leather to boot them. The army blanket covers them more amply and they need much less food than tall, thin men to keep up their body heat and maintain their marching energy.

"Those who stand the rigors of cold climates are not always big men and the sailor, like the wind-swept tree on the coast, may be a short man. Warmth and easy conditions of life rather tend to the development of tall men.

"The cavalry and artillerymen require to be big and powerful, but as to those who burrow in the trenches, how can it matter whether they are four feet nine or five feet six? We are not out for a show and a parade, but to win a war of sieges and attrition."


Germans Advised To Save

Commerce Minister Warns People to Be Sparing With Their Grain

Paris. — The Amsterdam Handelsblad says the Prussian minister of commerce has issued a proclamation which says that although Germany is well provided with grain the people should not waste it.

"The enemy," the minister says, "are trying to starve Germany as if it were a fortress. Therefore be sparing of your bread. Remember that the soldiers would be glad to have on the field of battle the bread you waste."

Horse Saves a Child

1906

Pet Animal Seizes Little Girl's Dress with His Teeth and Drags Her from Canal

Jersey City, N. J. — According to a story told to the Jersey City police the other day by Mrs. John Patrino, of 315 Pamrapo avenue, her three-year-old daughter Anna was saved from drowning by a horse named Charley, which is owned by her husband. The house and stable are near the Morris canal, and Anna is in the habit of playing on the canal bank.

The horse, which was a pet of the child, was running up and down the field, when Mrs. Patrino saw the child topple over into the water. She ran screaming to the canal, but before she reached it, she says, Charley had seized the child's dress with his teeth and dragged her to safety. As the mother reached them Charley set the child gently at her feet.

When Patrino heard his wife's statement he said Charley should have a padded stall and an extra feed of oats every day of his life. The police Were inclined to doubt Mrs. Patrino's story, but it was corroborated by two of her neighbors.


Housewife for Every Soldier

The war department has decided to furnish every soldier in the army with a housewife. This announcement though made with full authority, need cause no flutter of joy in their hearts of the waiting army of spinsters, for the "housewife" is not to be the helpmeet and partner that the bond of matrimony gives to man, but only a part of the soldier's kit. It will not exceed four ounces in weight and will contain assorted buttons, thread, needles, safety pins, ordinary pins, and if practicable, a small pair of scissors.

The Ghurkas — Monkey Men of the Himalayas

1898

The average "monkey-man of the Himalayas" is by no means a type of beauty. A short body, little legs, round head, and flat features are a few of his prominent physical characteristics; and being for a long period clothed in one of the ugliest uniforms the genius of man ever invented, he could not compete in picturesqueness with the fine physique and carriage of the handsome Sikhs, Pathans, or Bayputs.

But, in spite of his unprepossessing appearance, once let his officers gain his respect, and he is ready to follow them with doglike fidelity, to "go anywhere and do anything," to use a hackneyed phrase; and those qualities which commend themselves to a Ghurka are the same as those which serve to endear an officer to the British private.

Indeed, the devotion, courage, energy of character, and love of enterprise of these formidable but merry little warriors are such that the writer of a recent article on the native army gives expression to his conviction that "there is not a single instance on record of Ghurka soldiers having failed in their duty against an enemy." — Pall Mall.

Comment: We're all so superior, aren't we?

Truth Plays False as Divine Healer

1901

Offers Kisses for the Fair Sex

Denver's Divine Healer Rakes in Coin by Practice Until Gathered in by Authorities

Denver, Col., July 23 — Francis Truth, alias William A. Bennis, was arrested here on complaint of Edith Sampson, who charges him with obtaining money by false pretenses and with practicing medicine without a license.

Truth poses as a divine healer, advertised extensively, and offers treatment free, but those who fail to make a "free will offering" have to wait all day. Part of his treatment is to hug and kiss good looking young women who apply for treatment. Two offer to testify that he kissed them. He requires his patients to take his treatment with their eyes shut.

Truth was imprisoned in the Massachusetts penitentiary according to Mrs. Stewell, who handles the crowds which throng his house in fashionable Capital hill. Several indictments for using the mails to defraud were found against Truth last year in Boston. He pleaded guilty to five and was fined $500 on each. The other two were suspended.


1913

How Cowards Were Punished

Many of the devices by which military indifference to life has been matured and sustained are curious.

In ancient Athens the public temples were closed to those who refused military service, who deserted their ranks or lost their bucklers, while a law constrained such offenders to sit for three days in the public forum dressed in the garments of a woman.

Many a Spartan mother would stab her son who came back alive from a defeat, and such a man, if he escaped his mother, was debarred not only from public offices, but from marriage, exposed to the blows of all who chose to strike him, compelled to dress in mean clothing and to wear his beard negligently trimmed. In the same way a horse soldier who fled or lost his shield or received a wound in any save the front part of the body was by law prevented from ever afterward appearing in public.